Skopje, 20 June 2023 (MIA) - Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said he has not yet seen today's statement made by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, according to which the country "has failed to learn last year's lesson not to lobby with the EU members or the European institutions", but he stressed that the President of the neighboring country should be more concerned with reforms in his country.

"I have not yet seen the statement and I have nothing to comment on. North Macedonia has very clear positions not only within the EU, but also within NATO. We are a country that has fully aligned its foreign policy with the EU, a country that makes decisions in NATO on an equal footing with other countries, including together with Bulgaria. We have European reports on the progress of reforms every year, I think that the President of a neighboring country should be more concerned with the reforms in his country," Kovachevski said in response to reporters' questions at Tuesday's event on the 70th anniversary since the establishment of the Krste Misirkov Macedonian Language Institute and 120 years since the publishing of the book "On Macedonian Matters".

Bulgarian President Radev said Tuesday that the country "has failed to learn last year's lesson not to lobby with the EU members or the European institutions". 

"Skopje should learn its lesson about the EU. I see that they are going back to the same path before the negotiating framework, to lobby with the EU members, with the European institutions, thereby covering the lack of reforms, the disrespect of human rights and not being ready to start negotiations. That is not the right path. Bulgaria will continue to work with all the institutions in Brussels, with our European partners, in order not to have the solutions for the Republic of North Macedonia based on lobbying, which covers for the lack of reforms and the disrespect of rights," Radev told reporters. 

Photo: MIA print screen and MIA archive